Perfect Strangers

Ruth shook her head, listening. It was quiet and still, except for the distant call of a bird through the open door.

‘Is anyone here?’ shouted Fox. ‘The sound came from up there,’ he hissed, motioning towards the stairs. ‘Maybe you’d better wait here.’

‘Screw that,’ whispered Ruth. ‘I’m sticking with you.’

They walked up the stairs, wincing at each creaking step.

‘Police!’ called Fox. ‘Inspector Ian Fox from the Met.’

Ruth followed him through a door and found herself in a bedroom. She stared in amazement as a door in the corner creaked open and Sophie Ellis stepped out of the closet.

‘Sophie,’ Ruth gasped. ‘What the hell are you doing in there?’

‘I thought you were the Russians,’ she said, her voice shaking. Ruth immediately saw that the girl’s eyes were red from crying, and she stepped over and pulled her into a hug.

‘Everything’s okay now,’ she said, guiding her over to the bed to sit down.

‘But it’s not,’ said Sophie, dissolving into tears. ‘Josh was working with Lana.’

Ruth looked up at Fox.

‘Sophie, we . . .’ she began, but Sophie wasn’t listening.

‘They set the whole thing up to get Michael Asner’s money. You’ve heard of Asner, right?’

Fox nodded.

‘It was hidden here,’ said Sophie.

‘You found it?’ asked Ruth, her pulse racing. ‘You found the money here?’

‘Not the actual money, something called a bearer share?’ said Sophie shaking her head. ‘Apparently it’s like a passport to get the cash. The money is banked in some South Pacific island. Vanuatu? Something like that.’

‘Vanuatu,’ said Ruth excitedly. She’d read about the offshore tax haven in some Vanity Fair article.

‘So where is it now, Sophie?’ said Fox.

‘Josh gave the certificate to Lana and they’ve gone.’ Her shoulders slumped. ‘It doesn’t matter any more. Nothing matters.’

Fox knelt down in front of her.

‘No, Sophie, this could be very important,’ he said urgently. ‘Where did Josh and Lana go? Back to the hunting lodge?’

‘Yes. How do you know?’ said Sophie, frowning at him. ‘How did you know I was here?’

‘Because of Josh,’ said Fox gently. ‘You think he double-crossed you, but actually he was setting up Lana. He called me last night and explained the whole thing. He was the one who gave us the map co-ordinates for this castle.’

Sophie stared at him, her mouth opening and closing. She turned to look at Ruth, her face a mixture of hope and disbelief.

‘It’s true, Sophie,’ said Ruth. ‘Josh is the one who sent us.’

‘So you know what happened?’ said Sophie, her eyes wide. ‘You believe me?’

Fox nodded.

‘Josh told me everything. About Sergei Kaskov and Lana’s search for Michael Asner’s money. He begged me to get an Armed Response Unit to the shooting lodge in case the Russians appeared.’

‘An Armed Response Unit? You mean, like a SWAT team?’